This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-214679, filed Jul. 14, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a microscope system capable of setting various observation conditions, an operation control method and an operation control program for the microscope system.
The microscope system is used in many fields including a biological field and an inspection step of a technical field to enlarge and observe a minute sample or record an observation image as a photograph and a video image.
According to such a microscope system, in the case of taking a photograph for recording the observation image or observing the sample on television, a photographic light path, to which a photographic apparatus is fit, is selected as well as a correcting filter and a light decreasing filter for setting observation conditions for adjusting brightness and colors or the like are operated depending on the photographic condition of the photographic apparatus and the preference of a user. These observation conditions are variously set and the setting conditions are different depending on the observers.
However, according to such a microscope system, a function and a position of an operational switch or the like for receiving the operation instruction with respect to these photographic conditions and the observation conditions are fixed. Further, the operation is carried out by a single function. Additionally, as a function of the microscope system is fulfilled, the number of the operational switches is increased. Therefore, this involves a problem such that the operation becomes complicated for the observer and it takes a long time to be familiar with the operation or the like, so that there was a tendency to overload the observer.
In order to solve the above problem, as discussed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-104188 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. No. 6-311858, conventionally, a microscope system capable of converting or changing a function and a position of an operational switch depending on the observer has been considered. FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic structure of such a microscope system. In FIG. 17, a microscope body 100 has operational switches 101a, 101b and 101c. If these operational switches 101a, 101b and 101c are pressed down, an operational signal is transmitted to an interface unit 102. Then, a microscope control unit carries out an operation of the microscope body 100 by the use of function setting data which is registered in the interface unit 102 in advance by the observer.
However, the microscope control unit is normally formed by a firmware, so that an address space is small and a development environment is not sufficient. Therefore, after the microscope system is delivered, if the observer requests enlargement of a function and a complicated cooperative operation and the function setting data is largely changed, the microscope control unit is not capable of coping with this situation. In this case, there was a problem such that it took a long time to create another version of a ROM or the like for each change, so that it became difficult to quickly response to the operator""s request.
Alternatively, in the case of setting and changing the function setting data, the microscope control unit does not have a function to operate the microscope from the operational switches 101a, 101b and 101c, so that the microscope should be operated from inputting means for the microscope control unit. Therefore, this involved a problem such that the setting of the inspection conditions became complicated depending on the observer""s usage purpose and the microscope was needed to be driven every when these operations were carried out, so that the operability of the microscope became deteriorated.
The present invention has been made taking the problems into consideration, an object of which is to provide a microscope system capable of improving the operability of the system, an operation control method and an operation control program for the microscope system.
In order to attain the above described purpose, a first aspect of the present invention comprises a microscope system comprising:
a microscope body having at least one observation unit and capable of being operated by respective controller corresponding to the observation unit;
an operation unit for determining the operation instruction to the respective controller;
an operation switch detecting unit for detecting an operation of the operation unit and informing the detected operation to the exterior of the microscope body;
an outer control device having a storage unit, in which first operational instructing information for the respective controller is registered, and identifying the operational instructing information corresponding to a detected result from the operation switch detecting unit with reference to the storage unit; and
an observation unit control section for converting the operational instructing information which is identified by the outer control device, into operation instructing commands to the observation unit and giving the operation instructing commands to the respective controller.
Alternatively, a second aspect of the present invention comprises a microscope system comprising:
a microscope body having an observation unit and a photograph unit;
a microscope control unit for giving the operation instructions to the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body;
a microscope image processing unit for processing the microscope image which is obtained by the photograph unit;
an operational instructing information registering unit for registering the operational instructing information corresponding to a message from the microscope image processing unit; and
a control unit for receiving the message from the microscope image processing unit, reading out the corresponding to operational instructing information by the microscope control unit from the operational instructing information registering unit and instructing the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body in the operation.
Additionally, a third aspect of the present invention comprises an operation control method of a microscope system; wherein the microscope system comprising:
a microscope body having at least one observation unit and capable of being operated by respective controller corresponding to the observation unit;
an operation unit for determining the operation instruction to the respective controller;
an operation switch detecting unit for detecting an operation of the operation unit and informing the detected operation to the exterior of the microscope body;
an outer control device having a storage unit, in which first operational instructing information for the respective controller is registered; and
an observation unit control section for converting the information from the outer control device into operation instructing commands to the observation unit and giving the operation instructing commands to the respective controller;
wherein the operation control method of a microscope system comprising:
receiving a detection result from the operation switch detecting unit;
referring to the storage unit;
identifying the first operational instructing information corresponding to the detection result; and
transmitting the identified information to the observation unit control section.
Further, a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises an operation control method of a microscope system having a microscope body comprising an observation unit and a photograph unit; wherein the microscope system comprising:
a microscope control unit for giving the operation instructions to the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body;
a microscope image processing unit for processing the microscope image which is obtained by the photograph unit; and
an operational instructing information registering unit for registering the operational instructing information corresponding to a message from the microscope image processing unit;
the microscope system receives the message from the microscope image processing unit, refers to the operational instructing information registering unit, identifies the operational instructing information corresponding to the message and transmits the identified operational instructing information in order to instruct the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body in the operation.
Alternatively, a fifth aspect of the present invention comprises an operation control program of a microscope system; wherein the microscope system comprising:
a microscope body having at least one observation unit and capable of being operated by respective controller corresponding to the observation unit;
an operation unit for determining the operation instruction to the respective controller;
an operation switch detecting unit for detecting an operation of the operation unit and informing the detected operation to the exterior of the microscope body;
an outer control device having a storage unit, in which first operational instructing information for the respective controller is registered; and
an observation unit control section for converting the information from the outer control device into operation instructing commands to the observation unit and giving the operation instructing commands to the respective controller;
wherein the operation control program of microscope system comprising: receiving a detection result from the operation switch detecting unit; refers to the storage unit, identifies the first operational instructing information corresponding to the detection result and transmits the identified information to the observation unit control section.
Alternatively, a sixth aspect of the present invention comprises an operation control program of a microscope system having a microscope body comprising an observation unit and a photograph unit; wherein the microscope system comprising:
a microscope control unit for giving the operation instructions to the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body;
a microscope image processing unit for processing the microscope image which is obtained by the photograph unit; and
an operational instructing information registering unit for registering the operational instructing information corresponding to a message from the microscope image processing unit;
the microscope system receives the message from the microscope image processing unit, refers to the operational instructing information registering unit, identifies the operational instructing information corresponding to the message and transmits the identified operational instructing information in order to instruct the observation unit and the photograph unit of the microscope body in the operation.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.